General And Competitive Environment Analysis Of Woolworths

Business background

1. Background of Woolworths

Woolworths is one of the largest Australian supermarkets which is based in Australia and New Zealand (Woolworths.com.au. 2018). The company mainly specializes in providing different kinds of products which is inclusive of the groceries, magazines along with health and beauty related products. The company is currently operating in more than 1000 stores in Australia and there are more than 19 additional kind of convenience stores which is located in Australia which is operating under the brand name of Woolworths as well. The number of locations in which the company is operating is more than 995 locations and the number of employees working in Woolworths is 111,000. Lastly, the revenue which is being earned by the company till the year 2017 is A$42.132 billion and this is one of the biggest advantages which has been earned by Woolworths.

Woolworths is one of the largest retail stores which falls under the retail sector or industry. Retail is the main process of selling the consumer goods along with services to the different customers with the help of multiple channels of distribution in order to earn profit. The Australian retail store is one of the most advanced along with fast paced industries as there are different major players in the market which is affecting the sales of the company in a positive manner.

 The entire Australian industry has the immense kind of potential as there is huge growth of the internet and the entire retail segment in Australia contributes to more than 50% of the market share in the organization. The B2B business of Australian retail market is expected to rise to more than A$25 billion in the next two years and this will help in enhancing the growth of the retail industry as well.

Proper general environment analysis is essential in nature to be analysed which will assist in analysing the different kinds of threats along with opportunities which will affect the company in both positive or negative manner.

Economic factor is one of the major aspects which is required to be taken into consideration for the growth of the company in a positive manner. As there is huge growth along with significance of the Australian economy, this can be seen that there will be huge interference of the politics in the business of Woolworths. Woolworths is under significant amount of pressure from various different kinds of economic changes such as stability in the major economies is one of the opportunities which will help in continued growth of the developing economies (Chernev 2018).

What industry is it?

Physical factor is the aspect wherein this has been noticed that there are various physical stores available in the market of Australia for Woolworths. This can be a huge opportunity for the company to be better than the other competitors as there will be increase in the number of customers which will be become effective and for becoming more successful in future. Furthermore, there are various physical stores which have self-check-out automiser system which will be helpful in nature for Woolworths in gaining huge competency in the entire market as well (Hill 2017).

Socio-Cultural factor is the other aspect which is required to be taken into consideration in which this has been noticed that business environment in Australia has created a huge significance on the business of Woolworths, this has been noticed that the main opportunity which will be gained from Woolworths is the healthy lifestyle trend along with cultural diversity in the business environment which will create a positive impact on the business of Woolworths (Wheelen et al. 2017).

Global factor is the aspect in which this has been noticed that there is huge expansion strategy which can be applied by Woolworths in managing the different kinds of tasks effectively. The various types of the presence of Woolworths on the entire environment will be helpful in managing the various operations successfully. The international expansion can be helpful in managing the different operations such as assisting the customers in an appropriate manner (Proctor 2014).

Technological factor is the aspect in which the different technologically advanced features have to be taken into consideration which will affect the competitive landscape of the business in a positive manner (Lasserre 2017). the increasing automation of the business is one of the main opportunities which will help Woolworths in gaining competitiveness in the entire market. Furthermore, this has been seen that there has been increase in the usage of the mobile among the different customers which will be the other opportunity for Woolworths in gaining competitive advantage effectively.

Political/Legal factor is the other aspect in which this has been noticed that there is huge political stability in the economy of Australia. Furthermore, there is huge political support after globalization which will help in improving the overall productivity of the company in a positive manner. However, there is political pressure for high wages which can be a major issue for the company in becoming more successful in the future.

General environment analysis (economic, physical, sociocultural, global, technological, political/legal and demographic –and work out what the important facts are).

Demographic factor is the other aspect in which this has been analysed in such a manner in which this can be seen that the main target group of Woolworths are the individuals from 27-45 years of age group which will be main customer segment. This has been seen that Woolworths can target them and gain more competitive advantage effectively and appropriately.

Intensity of the Competitive Rivalry is the first aspect which is strong in nature as there are many other firms which are competing in the entire market. There are various external factors which are required to be taken into consideration and this can create a significant consideration in strategic management of Woolworths.

Bargaining power of the buyers is the other aspect which is weak force as there are large number of customers in the market which create a less impact on the firm and this affects the overall profitability of the firm. There is only small amount of purchases of individuals in the market which is affecting the growth of the firm (Galliers and Leidner 2014).

Bargaining power of the suppliers is the aspect which is weak as well as there are different suppliers in the market in which this can be seen that individual suppliers have less significance on the different large retailers such as Woolworths. However, on the other hand this has been noticed that the suppliers are less in the Australian market which can affect the overall production of the company in a negative manner (Helfat and Martin 2015).

Threats of the different substitutes is weak in nature as there are very less competitors in the Australian market which can impact the growth of the Woolworths. Furthermore, this has been noticed and analysed that the high cost of substitutes is weak and this helps the customers to purchase the different products from Woolworths (Bromiley et al. 2015). There are few threats in the economy, however this can be solved with the help and implementation of different kinds of functions which will be helpful for Woolworths in becoming successful in the entire competitive environment (Hollebeek, Conduit and Brodie 2016).

Threats from new entrants is the last aspect which is strong as the new entrants in the market is required to develop their business and the cost is huge and this will be advantageous for Woolworths as well (Meyer, Neck and Meeks 2017).

The Woolworths company has different kinds of competitors in the Australian market which is inclusive of Kmart, Coles and Target supermarket which are also large in terms of their operations. However, these cannot be a big threat for Woolworths as there are different technologically advanced operations which is efficient and is being used by them in handling the different kinds of operations of Woolworths effectually (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). Furthermore, this has been noticed that Coles is the super saver supermarket which can prove to be a competition for Woolworths, however the same threat can be reduced by Woolworths by addressing their weaknesses and applying strengths of Coles in becoming famous in nature.

The industry environment((i.e., supplier power, buyer power, potential entrants, substitute products and rivalry among competitors) and explain briefly what is significant for each).

Opportunities- The major opportunities of Woolworths are opening up the different markets as there is government agreement with adoption of the technologically advanced standard along with government free trade policy. The better promotions are the other option which can be adopted in which this will help them in winning back the different customers (Jarzabkowski and Kaplan 2015).

Threats- There are various discounting wars with Coles supermarket which can be a huge cause for Woolworths in succeeding in the competitive environment. Furthermore, this has been noticed that the slow growth of expansion in retail market is the other major threat for Woolworths and this can lead to loss of the customers for Woolworths in the entire market.

1. Analysis of Intangible and Tangible Resources

There are various types of intangible and tangible resources which are required to be analyzed in an effective manner by Woolworths in order to understand their presence in the overall Australian market. The different aspect which is required to be taken into consideration are as follows:

Human Resources is the first feature which helps in providing huge amount of support for the company in order to become more effective in nature. The different employees of the organization Woolworths play a major role in handling the different kinds of operations which will be helpful in handling the different kinds of grievances of the customers efficiently (Ausfoodnews.com.au. 2018).

Physical Resources is the other feature in which there are number of physical stores of Woolworths in Australia and New Zealand. The various stores in both the countries are having self-check-out system which has created a huge impact on the purchase of different customers and this tried to increase the overall revenues of the company (McDONALD 2016).

Financial Resources is the feature in which this has been noticed that the revenues and profit which have been earned by the company is strong and this has helped the company in becoming effective in the different operations which are of Woolworths and this has helped in gaining competitive advantage in the entire market as well (Rothaermel 2015).

There are various kinds of capabilities of the Woolworths company which is required to be analyzed in order to become more competitive in nature. There are various capabilities which have been analyzed by Woolworths to become more competitive in nature. The customer centric approach is the main variable which has been adopted by Woolworths in order to become more popular in comparison to the other competitors in the entire market. The entire company is being able to provide the various customers and try to meet the demands of the customers which helped them in managing the various operations in a positive manner (Robson 2015).

Competitive environment (Is there a strategic group that you need to take account of? What is the rivalry like in this group? What capabilities do the relevant firms have? What strategies do they follow? What threats do they represent?)

There are various core competencies of Woolworths which is required to be analyzed in an effective manner and this helps in managing the various operations in a successful manner. Woolworths need to introduce various kinds of products and services such as fresh fruits along with organic vegetables in the market which will help the company in becoming successful in nature (Schaltegger, Burritt and Petersen 2017). The company needs to introduce the different kinds of products which will help the company in analyzing the nature of the products and should improve the end-to-end retailing system as to become more successful in nature. Woolworths needs to develop the various types of the different kinds of drinks in their business which will assist in managing their operations in a successful manner (Hitt and Duane Ireland 2017).

Resources	Valuable	Rare	Imitable	Organisation	Advantage
Integration of successful implementation of information system	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Permanent
Activities related to supply chain of Woolworths	Yes	No	No	Yes	Temporary
Analysis of entire workforce of Woolworths	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Temporary
Format adopted by Woolworths is unique in nature	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Permanent
Efficiency related to cost of Woolworths	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Permanent

The implementation of the accurate management information system will be helpful in managing the different operations of Woolworths company. Furthermore, this has been seen that the entire system will help the company officials in managing the different details of the customers and this will assist the company in gaining more competitive advantage in the market.

 With the help and implementation of Management Information System will help the company in understanding the performance along with the maintenance of attendance of the individuals in the organization. MIS is of huge importance as this will help in reaching effective decisions in the organization. Furthermore, the implementation of the respective system helps in supporting the different operations and this will help in decision making in the organization as well.

Woolworths can check the entire production related activities by making the tasks easier in nature. Furthermore, this has been noticed that MIS provides data to the executive managers in the organizations to make decisions and the process is simple in nature in gaining huge level of productivity and this enhances the overall effectiveness of the organization as well.

With the implementation of Management Information System will help the company in becoming more effective in managing the different kinds of data in such a manner which will improve the overall process of the organization. With implementation of MIS, this will improve the overall process of the organization through which the different tasks are being performed and this will improve the overall management of the organization as well.

Furthermore, the MIS will help Woolworths officials inclusive of human resource department in managing the different performance along with the attendance of the employees working in the organization. This is essential in nature for the company to understand the different kinds of demands of the customers and this will help Woolworths in successfully managing the same.

Opportunitiesand threats

The performance along with the self-check-out system will help Woolworths in gaining more productivity in the organization along with becoming more famous in nature. Lastly, this has been noticed that performance management of the company is essential to be done through MIS by easily putting the data and this helps in generating the data through easy acquisition of the same.

Conclusion

Therefore, this can be concluded that the external and internal environment analysis has been ascertained which helped in managing the different operations of the organization. Furthermore, this has been noticed that there are different competitors in the market of Woolworths which can affect the overall growth of the economy.

Furthermore, this has been noticed that VRIO analysis has been performed which helped in understanding the different efficiencies and competencies of the company Woolworths in comparison to the other competitors. The proposed information system named Management Information System has been introduced by Woolworths which helped the company officials in managing the different attendance related objects in a positive manner.

Lastly, the general environment analysis has been done in an effective manner which helped the company in understanding the different objectives of Woolworths and gain more competitive advantage in the economy and in front of the other competitors.

References

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